Hearing: Leadership Challenges at the Department of Homeland Security: Allegations of Improper Influence Regarding Special Visas

March 26, 2015 1:15 PM
| 311 Cannon House Office Building

Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on the hearing: “The findings from the DHS OIG’s report regarding DHS Deputy Secretary Mayorkas’s apparent acts of favoritism regarding the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program are extremely concerning. The report details three specific cases where applicants, perceived to be politically powerful by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees, received special access and attention directly from Mr. Mayorkas during his time as Director of USCIS. According to whistleblowers, without his involvement these cases would have been decided differently.

“These allegations appear to be at odds with USCIS’s expressed mission to ‘administer the nation’s immigration system fairly, honestly, and correctly.’ This hearing will review the report’s findings in detail with DHS Inspector General Roth and determine if further oversight by my committee is warranted.”